The cloud seems to be the way forward, but can it really benefit your business? This article explores how the move to cloud computing can potentially increase productivity, save money and simplify your network infrastructure.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is a flexible and scalable approach to providing IT services. Although you can create your own private cloud by utilising the power of server virtualisation, this article focussed on the benefits that storing data and running services from a public cloud can bring to a business.
Public cloud computing services are run by third party providers and operate across the internet. The range of services fall into three main categories – Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
So whether you are looking to replace your e-mail server, need to invest in a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system or just want an offsite backup facility, cloud services are available to provide this, often at a lower cost than running the equivalent services on your own network.
The Impact of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is already big business with the major hardware and software suppliers being heavily involved. Many companies of all sizes are moving services to the cloud, from a small business with few free mailboxes right through to large corporations using fully featured CRM systems. It’s almost certain that cloud computing will gather pace and that over time costs will be further reduced and functionality increased, making it an even more attractive proposition.
While it may be possible to move nearly all services and data to the cloud, in most cases the cloud would compliment an existing infrastructure, rather than replace it. The role of IT staff may change over time, but unless off-the-shelf cloud solutions meet all the business requirements, there will still be a need for an IT department. In fact, even though SaaS solutions may not require any input from IT staff, PaaS and IaaS services will still require technical staff to develop and support these systems.
The Benefits of Cloud Computing
One of the main reasons for considering moving services to the cloud is the potential cost saving associated with this. Taking e-mail as example, this would normally require a server, hardware warranty, licenses and software support when running on your network. Contrast this to using a cloud service, where free e-mail accounts are available and even if these don’t offer enough storage, the annual subscription charge per user for larger mailboxes is still relatively low. It also means that budgeting is simpler with costs being incurred on a yearly basis, rather than larger investments needing to be made every few years to replace hardware or upgrade licenses. In addition to this, there is no longer a need to manage, upgrade and troubleshoot server issues or to distribute e-mail client software to workstations.
Enabling access to your internal network from the internet can be complicated, but running services on the cloud may negate the need to do this at all. Since cloud services are provided across the internet, they are available from anywhere and will also generally work well on mobile devices. Many cloud software services are designed with collaboration in mind and some also integrate with social networking sites to help streamline communication with customers. Other benefits to cloud computing include the ability to scale up or down quickly to match changing demands and being able to run software that may have been too complex or expensive to set up internally.
Moving to the Cloud
The decision to move data and services to the cloud needs to be carefully considered. Restrictions such as low internet bandwidth may prevent you from using cloud backup or storage solutions. Also, legal or data protection issues may have an influence as to which data or services are suitable for migration to the cloud and which provider you move to.
For each of the remaining services a full cost analysis of hosting data internally as opposed to cloud hosting should be undertaken. If there are clear cost savings or improvements to processes gained by using cloud computing then look at moving these services first. A good time to move a service to the cloud is when hardware or software is due to be replaced or upgraded. Also it is important to fully read the provider’s Service Level Agreement (SLA) and other documentation to ensure that you are aware of all aspects of the service such as backups, licensing requirements, technical support and compensation if there is any downtime.
Next Steps
Before making the move to cloud computing, evaluate how the change would benefit your business and also the potential impact that any downtime could have. Fortunately many suppliers will offer a free trial, so use this to ensure that the system works in the way you expect and that your internet connection has enough bandwidth to run it. Where possible, make changes over a period of time and then review how the changes have benefitted the business.
